'Till Death Do Us Part: Love, Marriage, and the Mind of the Killer Spouse (17 page)

Laci knew her husband’s cheating signs. She was seeing them again, and she eventually confronted Scott. She had expected more from him, especially with the birth of their first child right around the corner. Enough was enough, and she put her foot down, which seemed to Scott like harassment. He was not going to let her stop him from being free. Scott’s background had not prepared him to manage frustration.

Laci became like one big “no” to Scott. As discussed earlier, Scott’s own parents had not said no to him; he surely was not going to let Laci say it now. Worse still, he knew this time she meant it, especially with the baby on the way, which was going to change everything soon anyway. Suddenly Scott felt that he had been bullied and pushed around long enough. That was it: It was either going to be Laci or Scott, and in true Scott Peterson fashion, he chose himself.

All he could think about was getting his freedom and his life back from Laci. In the heat of a moment of uncontrollable anger and rage, Laci was dead.

Scott didn’t really mean to kill Laci. And since he didn’t really mean it, he shouldn’t have to pay with his life. He believed that if he got rid of Laci’s body, it would be as if the murder had not really occurred. If he denied it hard enough, it would be as if he hadn’t really killed her. He had always gotten away with things in the past, so there was no reason to think this time would be any different. He knew his parents would believe him anyway. They would support him.

They always did.

* * * * *

B
RIAN
T
RIMBLE
was another man who didn’t want to hear no.

When police arrived at his suburban Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, home on January 10, 2003, they found his wife, Randi, twenty-seven, lying dead in the garage. She had been stabbed twenty-eight times. The house had been ransacked, and her husband Brian, twenty-seven, had discovered his wife’s body upon returning home after a night of dinner and shopping with a friend. He had even saved all his receipts.

But police became suspicious of Brian almost immediately. The “ransacking” appeared staged, with items tossed throughout the house as if the idea was to make a mess rather than steal anything. More important, some valuables were apparently missing while others, like everything in Brian’s computer room, were untouched. In addition, the only open window in the house was too small for a burglar to get through, while the front door was unlocked, suggesting that Randi knew her attacker.

Randi was a speech language pathologist at Hershey Medical Center who worked extra hours to build a nest egg to help with the eventual care of Brian, who suffered from multiple sclerosis. The couple married in 2000 and Randi went into the marriage fully aware of Brian’s condition and fate. While Randi sought to save her hard-earned money, Brian had other ideas.

He had a friend, Blaine Norris, twenty-five, a former Eagle Scout, high school honor student, and budding film director who was looking to produce a horror movie. The two men worked together as computer technicians for a local health insurance company, and Brian wanted to use some of Randi’s money to buy video equipment for his friend’s movie. But Randi said no, saying she wasn’t going to give or lend money to someone she didn’t know well. She also had other, more important designs on her money.

The couple argued over Randi’s decision, but she wouldn’t budge, adding tension to their already stressed marriage. The couple argued often, with Brian telling a coworker that he and his wife couldn’t stand each other for long periods of time and they “couldn’t even be in the same room together.”

When he told his friend of his marital problems, Norris replied, “You know, I could take care of that for you.”

Norris was joking, but Brian was furious with his wife, and Norris’s suggestive comment soon turned into a plan. Brian decided to kill his wife and collect on her $94,000 insurance policy and $25,000 she had saved in her bank account.

Brian promised Norris $20,000, and for the next two months, over breakfast and lunch, the two men hatched their plot, from solid alibis to staging a robbery. Brian even sent Norris a computer link for a how-to book for hit men. The afternoon of the murder, Norris parked his car two blocks away from the Trimble home, and was let inside by Brian. There Norris turned over furniture and clothing and took some valuables, including jewelry. Brian went out to dinner with a friend to establish his alibi while Norris hid in the house, waiting for Randi to return home from work.

The day before, Norris bought new clothes, including a camouflage mask, gloves, and boots. He was wearing this disguise when Randi finally walked in. Norris surprised her and first tried to strangle her with an electrical cord from a Christmas tree. But Randi fought back, placing her hand between the cord and her neck, and with her other hand she pulled the mask away which, to her surprise, revealed Norris to be her attacker. Norris then took out a knife as Randi begged for her life and then began to pray.

Given their initial theories, Cumberland County police believed there was but one suspect: Brian Trimble. But a detective with the East Pennsboro Township police, Richard “Chip” Dougherty, thought the crime scene looked like a “TV burglary,” and decided there had to be a second person involved. Dougherty and another detective, Les Frehling, a twenty-five-year veteran, spent four months on their investigation, part of which included a wiretap on Brian’s home phone.

Brian was initially unaware that he was a suspect, believing instead that he was aiding in the police investigation. He met with Detective Frehling two weeks after the murder, at which time he related the events of the day and told the detective what he found when he returned home. Brian didn’t know that he was locking himself into a story that would later produce a list of inconsistencies. Detectives were also following a money trail of receipts from both Brian and Norris that clearly indicated their involvement.

While the police moved cautiously, assembling one piece of evidence after another (including wiretaps), Brian collected the insurance money and paid his friend the promised $20,000. He also purchased an Xbox, a television, and new furniture. Before Randi’s funeral Brian even requested a refund on tickets for a planned cruise with his wife.

Toward the end of the investigation both Brian and Norris knew they were suspects. Detective Dougherty would show up unannounced at Brian’s home, or during surveillance he’d make himself visible to the increasingly nervous pair. Norris reacted by sending an anonymous letter to the
Harrisburg Patriot-News
and a TV station, claiming to be a professional hit man from outside the area and listing the details of the murder.

Police finally brought Brian in and told him about their wiretaps, after which he confessed, linking Norris, who had told police he was at his girlfriend’s house, to the killing. The detectives obtained a warrant to search Norris’s car, where they found a receipt from a clothing store in Lancaster, where Norris had purchased a camouflage mask and other items, including a seven-inch knife, on January 9, 2003, the night before the murder. They also questioned his girlfriend, who told them that Norris was supposed to arrive at her home at 6:30
P.M.
. for dinner. He hadn’t gotten there until 9
P.M.
. Randi Trimble had died around 8
P.M.
.

Norris was arrested and charged, along with Brian, for the murder of Randi Trimble.

Both men pled guilty and avoided trial. They are serving life terms.

* * * * *

F
INANCES
are often the top cause of arguments for married couples, especially newly married couples. Randi Trimble, a speech pathologist, appeared to be more levelheaded than her husband about managing household finances. She wanted to save for the future, and she was thoughtful and mature about where the family money should go. Brian, on the other hand, was more childlike and impulsive. He wanted what he wanted, when he wanted it, and he was not good at waiting. It was an issue that would ultimately turn out to be lethal.

On one occasion, Brian wanted to use some of the family money his wife had saved to buy video equipment for his friend’s movie. When his wife said no and would not change her mind, he became enraged. Brian hated his wife for this. He did not want to be told no by anyone, especially Randi. He told his movie-making friend, Norris, about his recent marital problems and said that he could not stand his wife anymore. Norris told him he could “take care of” it for him, obviously meaning that he would kill her. One could argue that Norris blurred his reality life with his fantasy life. Killing his friend’s wife would be like playing a part and directing his own horror movie, only this movie was real, fatally real.

There was also another element to this story: Brian had multiple sclerosis. While the disease eventually leaves its victims paralyzed before they die, the progression is highly variable, sometimes quick, other times lengthy. Randi knew about Brian’s condition before they married, which makes their relationship particularly sad and hard to understand. Randi agreed to marry a man, knowing that one day their lives together would eventually become very difficult. This is a huge decision for any woman to make, particularly one so young.

A speech therapist, Randi was maternal and nurturing by nature. She was able to use her head and her heart when it came to making decisions about her life. She loved Brian enough to take on his future health challenges. If anyone could do it, she felt she could. She was the exact opposite of her husband. For Brian, living in the moment was the priority and he was focused on the here and now. And anyone who got in his way needed to watch out. When Randi said no to him about something he really wanted, she became no different than his MS, the disease that would ultimately stifle his independence and take his life.

That was one of the reasons that Brian lashed out. After all, Randi knew he was living on borrowed time, and she wasn’t the victim of a horrible disease. She should be more compassionate. How could she always be thinking about the future when he did not really have a future? The future meant nothing to him. In fact, it was downright unpleasant and depressing to think about it. There was nothing in it for him except for wheelchairs, adult diapers, and drooling all over himself. His future was bleak and Randi, of all people, knew it. What was his wife thinking? She was just being overbearing and thinking about herself. After all, she didn’t have to worry about her future. She could save to her heart’s content because she had a future to enjoy, to fantasize and feel hopeful about. He did not. His joys, fantasies, and dreams were available to him only in the moment, and only for as long as his body could hold out. His friend Blaine Norris understood his reality, why didn’t his wife?

Thus, Randi became more of a burden than an asset. When Brian first married her, he thought they could enjoy a nice relationship and that Randi would let him have whatever he wanted. At least, that is the way it seemed when they first dated. In the beginning there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for him. He loved that and had grown to expect it. But things had changed since they got married and this infuriated him. He did not know how long he would have before his disease ravaged his body and ultimately took over his life. He did not need a wife to do the same thing.

If Randi was not going to add to his life and make life easier for him, she would have to go. He was going to have what he wanted whether his wife liked it or not. Brian was depressed and angry. He felt after all he had been through in life he deserved a little joy and pleasure. He thought he could get that with his wife Randi, but obviously he had made a mistake. She was a ball and chain and he would be better off without her. The insurance money from her death would only secure the freedom he had longed for and was entitled to. He had earned it. He already had one ball and chain in his life, the MS. He did not need another. With Blaine Norris’s generous offer, he could finally have it all.

As discussed earlier in this chapter, we tend to associate temper tantrums with toddlers. Infants and toddlers experience a lot of frustration in their lives because of the wide discrepancy between what they want to do and what they are able to do. Because kids are small, these outbursts are more of a nuisance than a danger.

Dealing effectively with temper tantrums in adults is about learning how to exercise self-control. Self-control is critical if you want to get along with people and succeed in life. It requires thinking before acting. If left uncontrolled impulsive behavior can have negative or even dangerous consequences, as it did for Brian and Randi.

Brian reacted to his wife like an oppositional child or adolescent rebelling against a problematic or restrictive parent. This rebellious dynamic produced an intense and overwhelming anger that would not wane over time. Brian could not resolve his chronic and aversive emotional reaction. He was ruminating, and during this period of rumination his impulsive and explosive rage got the best of him. He thought the only way to escape his wife’s unswayable decision was to have her eliminated. Once Randi was out of the way, he could have what he wanted and was entitled to. He was just safeguarding his right to a life.

Brian’s act was not only highly reactive, it was cowardly. Not unlike Rabbi Neulander, he hired someone to do the killing. The relationship between Brian and Norris was pathological and perverse. Norris killed Randi with such a degree of rage. The contact was up close and appeared to be personal. One wonders if he had killed like this before. And what were Norris’s real feelings toward Brian?

Brian liked people who would do anything for him. He thought Randi would do anything until she showed him otherwise. Brian would favor the person who best met his needs. It was all about expedience. Whoever did not cooperate would be disposed of. Brian was excited by Norris’s willingness to do anything. Norris’s approach to life exhilarated Brian, perhaps because Brian already felt dead and something about being around Norris helped him to vicariously feel more powerful and alive. So he went with the person who gave him the exciting feeling he wanted to have in life, and went against the one person who had supported him the most.